The key facts

  • Anduril unveiled the Steelfin missile family on a unified two-stage architecture
  • Cruise and hypersonic missiles are named among the target threats, but the distribution of variants to threats has not been specified
  • Flight tests are scheduled for 2027

A unified architecture for different missions

Anduril has unveiled the Steelfin missile family in the US. According to Naked Science, citing The War Zone, the missiles are being built on a unified architecture and a shared production process. This approach is expected to allow adapting the existing design to specific tasks instead of developing an entirely new missile for each mission. The presentation took place at a time when the US armed forces are seeking to build up their stockpile of air defense assets against a wide range of aerial threats — from inexpensive drones to cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

Two-stage design and shared components

The Steelfin family is based on a unified two-stage design: the first stage is a booster, and the second is the warhead section intended to directly destroy the target. Across the various variants, the main airframe structures, onboard electronics, software, flight control system and communication interfaces are planned to be shared. The missile is adapted to a specific task by swapping boosters and second-stage elements. According to Anduril, the family will include both hit-to-kill warheads and variants with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead.

Stated missions and uncertainty over characteristics

Through Steelfin, the company expects to cover missions ranging from protecting individual sites to lower-tier air and missile defense, as well as intercepting ballistic missiles at the upper tier. Cruise and hypersonic missiles are among the named target threats. However, which modification will be used against which specific threat has not yet been specified. Intercept range, engagement altitude and other figures that would help assess the claimed capabilities have also not been disclosed.

Development progress and test timeline

Anduril said it has been working on Steelfin for several years with funding from several customers. The company has conducted ballistic tests using mockups and simulation vehicles characteristic of the program. Flight tests of various Steelfin variants are scheduled for 2027.